Regardless of your age or experience level, there&#;s never a wrong time to try out home gardening. Whether you&#;re interested in gardening as a hobby, a side hustle or simply want beautiful blooms in your space, you&#;ll need to learn the basics. In addition to durable gardening shears, raised garden beds and other gardening supplies, an easy-to-use seed starting tray is a great way to jumpstart your journey. 

If you want to learn more, please visit our website germination trays suppliers.

SKIP AHEAD What is a seed starting tray? | How we picked the best seed starting trays | The best seed starting trays | How to shop for seed starting trays

To help you choose the best seed starting trays, we consulted gardening experts for shopping advice and compiled a list of their recommendations &#; bestselling brands like Gardener&#;s Supply and Burpee are included.

What is a seed starting tray?

Seed starting trays are shallow trays with multiple small plots (called cells) organized in a grid, which help to germinate seeds for gardeners of all skill levels. Trays are typically made from plastic, biodegradable or compostable material, the latter of which can be planted directly into the ground.  &#;[A seed starting tray] differs from planters or pots in that the space for the seed and eventual plant to grow is much smaller,&#; says Carmen DeVito, a professional garden designer and the founder of Garden Cult.

Some people use seed starting trays as a starting point for sprouting seedlings &#; &#;They are essentially temporary homes for your seedlings to grow until they are ready to go out into the garden or into their permanent homes in containers,&#; says DeVito. Seed starting trays also have drainage holes to prevent overwatering.

How we picked the best seed starting trays

We spoke with DeVito and horticulturalist Nathan Heinrich, both of whom emphasized the following factors when recommending the best seed starting trays:

Material: Seed starting trays are available in either plastic or some sort of composted material, such as peat, wood pulp and coir (coconut fibers). Seed trays made from peat, for example, are beneficial because you can plant them directly into native soil once the seeds have germinated and sprouted. That said, trays made from composted material are sometimes not as durable as plastic options. Plastic seed trays are prized because they hold up well against root growth and different elements that may disturb the plant. If you do use plastic trays to grow edible plants, look for ones that are BPA free.

Soil type: Soil is foundational to plant growth, and different types may be better suited for certain types of plants. You can buy a seed starting mix that&#;s premade or you can make your own using a mix of soil and fertilizer.

Light exposure: Plants sown in seed starting trays should be placed wherever they can get sufficient light exposure. If using artificial light, however, make sure those plants are easy to grow under such conditions, according to DeVito. &#;I recommend using [seed starting trays] to start plants like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, zucchini and some flowering perennials that do best when they are started indoors under lights,&#; she says. &#;This gives them a head start for the season to flower or produce fruit  and other edible parts quicker.&#; You can also buy seed starting trays with grow light attachments if your access to natural light is limited.

Watering: Seedlings also need sufficient water to grow. In addition to watering cans, you can often buy watering trays, sometimes called a reservoir, bottom tray or propagation tray, which goes under the cells of the seed starting tray. Depending on what you&#;re planting, you can water seedlings in seed trays by either watering them from above or by adding water to the tray below. Since seed starting trays have small holes on the bottom, it allows the plants to absorb water from below. Ensuring you have the space, supplies and time to do this regularly is important if you plan on using a seed starting tray.

The best seed starting trays in

Below, we rounded up seed starting trays recommended by our experts and ones that have at least a 4-star average rating from at least 500 reviews on Amazon. All of them are either made of plastic, silicone or biodegradable material.

This plastic seed starting tray from Gardener&#;s Supply Company comes recommended by DeVito, who says it&#;s a great option for beginners. The seed-starting kit has two 24-cell seed starting trays with a propagation tray for watering, two germination dome covers which regulate temperature, a six-quart bag of seed starting soil mix, a capillary mat and wooden seedling marking sticks. While the seed starting tray is suitable for both indoor and outdoor gardening, it&#;s best if used for growing indoor or greenhouse seedlings, according to the brand. The propagation tray underneath the seed tray helps maintain water over time, so your plants receive continuous self-watering, according to the brand.

This biodegradable seed starting tray, also from Gardener&#;s Supply Company, comes recommended by DeVito, who says it&#;s good for gardeners who want an eco-friendly option. As is common with biodegradable seed starting trays, you can plant these pots directly into the ground due to the organic material. The wood fiber cells are both durable enough to help promote plant growth for seedlings but they&#;re also easy to work with when transplanting them into your garden bed.

Burpee SuperSeed Seed Starting Tray (8 XL cells)

This vibrant, modern-looking silicone seed starting tray from Burpee is a perfect option for gardeners with limited space, like a windowsill, according to DeVito. The tray has the same features of a typical plastic or biodegradable tray, such as small holes underneath for soaking up and draining water. The most unique aspect, however, is the pliable silicone bottoms that allow you to easily press the seedlings out of the cells and transplant into native soil or a large pot when ready.

This Mixc seed starting tray has everything growers want to sow multiple types of seeds. The plastic tray kit includes a cell tray and a propagation tray, both of which fit together underneath a plastic humidity dome, also included. The dome cover also has adjustable vents on the top that you can change by hand, depending on the weather or climate you want to expose your plants to. The tray is also safe to use with a heat mat, according to the brand. That means you can have even more control over the temperature around your plants, which is important if you live in a particularly cold environment. The model has a 4.4-star average rating from over 8,000 reviews on Amazon.

The Gardzen seed starting tray has all of the basics required for setting up your seedlings. The model has the usual multi-cell seed tray, draining holes on the bottoms and a plastic humidity dome for temperature regulation. Since the brand offers large capacity cell trays, with both 40-cell and 70-cell options, each of the tray kits have domes with multiple adjustable vents on the top for optimal temperature regulation. It also has a 4.6-star average rating from over 6,000 reviews on Amazon.

The Growneer seed trays are made from peat, a biodegradable material made of composted organic material, which makes them ideal for planting the seedlings directly into the ground once they sprout. The brand sells 10-cell and six-cell trays, both of which come with T-shaped plant labels that you can stick into each cell with soil. A benefit of peat seed starting trays like this one, is that you can cut and separate each cell however you want.

If you plan on using your seed starting tray indoors, consider purchasing one with a grow light. While many plants and seedlings thrive while growing indoors, a grow light can help make the germination process smoother and faster. A grow light also makes it easier to provide your plants with light, regardless of where in your home they are, especially a space with limited natural light. The light on this tray has adjustable settings that can be controlled with a remote. Plus, it has a 4.3-star average rating from over 3,000 reviews on Amazon.

How to shop for seed starting trays

If it&#;s your first time shopping for seed starting trays, it&#;s important to keep certain features in mind, such as the material of the tray, the size and number of cells, and where you plan on transplanting the seedlings. It&#;s also crucial to make sure you have the proper space to transfer them to, such as a large flower pot or garden bed.

Types of seed starting trays

The type of seed starting tray you choose also matters. Seed starting trays are either made from plastic or composted material such as peat or wood fibers. Both work fine for growing seedlings, but there are benefits and drawbacks to using each type, which we explain below.

Plastic seed starting trays

Plastic trays are a popular choice for growing seedlings because they&#;re durable enough to use multiple times. &#;The plastic [seed starting trays] are theoretically reusable and usually cheaper,&#; says DeVito. &#;[And] depending on the type of plastic, possibly recyclable.&#; That said, plastic seed starting trays are less environmentally friendly compared to peat trays since you have to remove the seedlings by hand to transplant them into garden beds or native soil.

Biodegradable seed starting trays

Biodegradable trays are also commonly used for starting seeds because they don&#;t require disturbing the plant roots while transplanting. Since they&#;re made from organic material, they&#;re safe to plant directly in the ground. That said, if you&#;re an experienced gardener and plant seedlings often, keep in mind that using peat trays requires buying new ones annually, which can be costly for some.

Frequently asked questions

Seed starting trays are helpful tools for beginners, but they&#;re also something that even experienced gardeners can use to grow seedlings in a safe and organized way. &#;One of the main reasons for using seed trays with individual &#;grow cells&#; is spacing,&#; says Heinrich. &#;By placing one or more seeds into a seed tray with individual &#;cells&#; or &#;plugs,&#; you allow the seeds to sprout in their own tiny space without being over-crowded and having to compete with their fellow seedings for root space, water, and sunlight.&#;

Plus, since the seedlings are divided into individual plots, they&#;re easier to transplant compared to open seedling trays because the roots of each plant are separated. &#;While some people like to sow seeds in &#;open seed trays&#; that do not have individual grow cells, this method has a much lower success rate with most varieties,&#; says Heinrich. &#;While it is a faster way to sow your seeds initially, you end up with more labor when it comes time to divide the seedlings for transplanting.&#;

Yes, seed starting trays, even ones that you make from more common biodegradable material, such as egg cartons, need drainage holes on the bottom. This is to ensure that the roots aren&#;t overwhelmed with too much watering. Also, if you have seed trays with a propagation tray, the holes on the bottom allow you to water the plants from the underneath rather than from above.

For more information, please visit plastic seedling trays manufacturers and suppliers.

Something important to keep in mind when using a seed starting tray is that you can use them both indoors and outdoors. Since seeds starting trays are meant for growing seedlings that will be transplanted later, whether or not to start them indoors depends on your preference and the type of plant. Some varieties are fine to plant indoors or outdoors, while some are more suited for one or the other.

Depending on what you&#;re planting and when you expect it to sprout, you should start seeds around six weeks before your last expected frost date, according to The Old Farmer&#;s Almanac. A frost date is the date that the last freezing cold temperature is projected to happen where you live. This helps prevent your plants from dying in the cold. You can use resources such as an Almanac, to see what the expected frost dates are for your area.

Professional gardeners look at planting zone maps, also called plant hardiness zones, to choose the optimal time to start their seeds, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Planting zones are regions throughout the United States with their own climate profile, each of which has its own letter and number combination related to a certain type of climate. Planting zones range from 1a to 13b, with 1a being the coldest and 13b being the warmest. This helps gardeners and farmers know what is best to plant where they live and when.

Meet our experts

At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.

• Carmen DeVito is a professional garden designer, certified New York state landscape professional and the founder of garden consulting company Garden Cult. 
• Nathan Heinrich is a gardening designer and horticulturalist.

Why trust NBC Select?

Cory Fernandez is a commerce editor at NBC Select, where he covers food, cooking, cleaning, lifestyle and wellness. He spoke with professional gardeners and horticulturalists for their insight, recommendations and guidance.

Catch up on NBC Select&#;s in-depth coverage of personal finance, tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to stay up to date.

Seed Starting: Containers

You've picked out the varieties you want to grow. You ordered your seeds. Now you need to plant them! What type of containers or pots work best for seedlings? Let's examine a variety of seed starting systems. Then we'll look at the pros and cons. Hopefully this will guide you in selecting a growing system that works best in your situation.

How to Select the Right Seedling Pots

The first and more important thing to bear in mind is that when it comes to seed starting, there is no perfect, single solution. What's the best seed starting container? The answer to that question will depend upon the factors that are most important to you:

PLANT QUANTITY: The number of plants you plan on growing will have a huge impact on the growing system you decide to implement. For example, in a production environment like a greenhouse or nursery, you need to produce thousands of seedlings. To produce a high volume of seedlings, nurseries rely on systems that are compact and allow for smaller, denser plants.

PLANT SIZE: What if you are a small scale urban gardener who only grows a few peppers and tomatoes? You may benefit from a system that supports larger, more vigorous seedlings. Growing massive plants with well established root systems gives you a great head start on the growing season. Healthier plants are more disease and pest resistant too. So a seedling container that grows plants with larger root systems might be exactly what you need.

UPFRONT COST: We only have so much money. Many gardeners look at growing food as a way to SAVE money (not spend more). Other gardening hobbyists have no problem dumping hundreds of dollars in a system that only generates a fraction of what they invested. But they don't care because it's something they love doing. Starting seeds can be super cheap or maybe a little more costly, depending on what method you choose. Some systems require an upfront investment that slowly pays for itself over a course of years. So we'll look at what each system has to offer.

RENEWABILITY: Some seed starting solutions may seem simple and affordable at first glance. But a few of these systems are designed in a way that you'll have to come back, year after year to buy them again and again. This is something worth considering. Would you prefer a reusable product that you can clean and use again next year?

Video:

Seed Starting Containers:
10+ Ideas for Vegetable Gardening

Seedling Container Options:

SEEDLING POTS: A simple, highly reliable method for starting seedlings is to just grow each one in its own individual pot. Opting for this method allows you to custom select the pot size and shape that best suits your needs.

It's so easy to mix and match your seedling containers. For standard sized plants like lettuce, I find that 2.25" square pots offer a nice balance of rooting size in a compact space. For larger plants like tomatoes, you can easily upgrade to 1 quart pots, allowing the plants to stretch out nicely. You can also select pots that have a more depth for better root systems.

Separate seedling pots allow you to scale up or down in plant size and plant quantity. Plants can be spaced out as they get bigger for better airflow. They can be easily irrigated from the bottom or even placed onto a watering mat. Such pots are easy to wash and reuse year after year. Of course, they may become hard to manage once you start juggling a very large quantity. So keep that in mind.

SALVAGED POTS: Have you ever bought a seedling or a small herb pot that came in its own little potting container? Hopefully you didn't throw the container away! I always hold onto mine. Time and again they have come in handy. Even if I just put a plant into one of these and then give it to a friend.

As your collection grows, you'll likely find that you have a stockpile of various sizes. That includes containers with extra depth for better root systems. Depending on the application, you can pick the pot size that is just big enough for whatever plant you're growing.

Reusing nursery pots makes a lot of sense. It saves you money. But it also diverts materials away from the landfill. I encourage people to recycle and reuse materials when practical. In the case of salvaged potting containers, it's a no brainer!

DRINKING CUPS / FOOD CONTAINERS: If you are brand new to gardening, you might not have many materials on hand. Starting from scratch can be daunting. And it can be quite costly. But it doesn't have to be that way. Recycling containers is a free way to acquire some seedling containers without spending a penny!

Why not rinse out some used party cups? Or you could clean some plastic food containers that are shaped properly for growing plants. I've used yogurt containers. Once clean, all you need to do is add some drain holes. I typically use a utility knife to cut triangular holes at the base.

To conserve potting mix and further save money, you don't actually need to fill the containers up all the way. This is especially true for less vigorous plants that don't have aggressive root systems. Even with larger plants like tomatoes, you could simply choose to plant them outside before they get oversized and become root bound.

NET CUPS: Net cups were developed for use in hydroponics. These basket shaped cups have open slits in the sides and bottom. The openings allow plant roots to grow freely into rooting medium, nutrient solution or even into highly humid air!

Some people have found that net cups can be utilized in growing seedlings. In a standard growing environment, the roots grow to the sides and then stop as they hit dry air. This effect is called air pruning and it prevents unwanted circling of roots. The cups themselves can be placed onto a watering mat allowing them to draw up water as needed.

Net cups can be bought in bulk at a low price. The smaller cups are quite affordable, although they can be very flimsy. Larger cups would support larger plants and would also be easier to clean and re-use again.

COW / PEAT / COIR POTS: Perhaps you've see square or round pots that have a texture similar to cardboard pulp. It's possible to find pots made from several biodegradable materials. Peat pots are made from peat moss. Coir or Coco pots are made from recycled coconut fiber. And CowPots are derived from composted cow manure. All of these are marketed with the intent that you can just plant the entire seedling into the ground and the pot will break down, allowing the seedling to grow to mature size.

Each of these materials has varying levels of sustainability. Some environmentalists oppose the use of peat moss for horticultural use due to the negative impacts of harvesting it. Coir is a more renewable alternative since it is a by-product of the coconut industry. Processing cow poo into a pot is also a cool way to utilize a resource that might otherwise be considered waste.

Some gardeners have complained that their biodegradable pot never properly decomposed during the growing season. If this happens, your plant may become root bound and its growth will be stunted. To avoid this, I peel away the pot and toss the pieces in the ground at planting time.

If your pot is kept moist and is breaking down quickly you may be just fine. One way to tell is to examine the outside edges of the pot before planting. Have plant roots begun to poke through the edges? These pots are meant to air prune the roots, preventing root spiralling. If you see tips of roots, then once you plant this in the ground, you know the roots will be ready to quickly spread out into the native soil. Growth will not be restricted and you should have good results. One final thought: these are consumable products. So you will be stuck buying new ones every year.

SEEDLING FLATS / CELL PACKS & TRAYS: Seedling flats offer tiny cells of soil for each plant. This high density system allows a lot of plants to be squeezed into a small space. Each flat is usually placed into an accompanying tray. The tray offers structure during transport. The trays also can hold excess water, keeping things neat.

Such systems are very common and cheap to implement. They devote only a small amount of potting media to any given plant. But seedling trays are most useful in a nursery or greenhouse application. They may not be the best solution in a small scale home environment.

In my personal experience, I've found the trays to be hard to water. Top irrigation works ok, but can be quite messy inside the home. I've tried lifting the flat and dumping water underneath into the tray. This bottom watering method is neater. But it's easy to over water. Also, some cells become over-saturated while seedlings on the edges may dry out faster. Root rot, fungus gnats and mildews can quickly follow. Using a system like this on a self-watering wicking mat can be a very helpful upgrade.

JIFFY PELLETS: Jiffy pellets are little compressed disks of peat moss (or sometimes coir) that expand when soaked in water. The pellets can take a while to absorb the water. But each one is a stand alone "pot" that comes with its own potting mix and nutrients. A simple solution for first time gardeners. Just add water and seeds!

As with a few other options out there, these also air prune the side roots. The squishy cylinder of potting mix is held together by a thin netting. Supposedly, plants roots can grow right through these, once planted in the ground. But some people have had issues with this. It might be safe to cut away the netting at planting time.

There are several sizes that will support various levels of plant size versus plant quantity. Of course, these are consumable products that you'll be stuck buying again and again. But you can buy packs of just pellets (refills) at a reasonable price. And remember: these save you from buying seed starting mix.

CONE-TAINERS / RAY LEACH TUBES: Cone-tainers are a system developed by the forestry industry for a way of propagating young tree seedlings. These containers are very deep, allowing for a longer tap root. At the same time, they are narrow which works in a production environment where plant density is needed.

The cone-tainer system could certainly be used by a home gardener. But there are several things to consider. This system is has a somewhat limited availability. You may not find it in the typical big box stores or even in local garden centers. When purchased online, I've found them to be more expensive than common alternatives like flats and trays.

Cone-tainers require a stand for support. This makes them hard to handle in small batches. They are difficult to water from below. I like that you can pick up and move one or two cones as needed. But they are still cumbersome in small spaces. I recommend these for starting onions or leeks indoors from seed. You can grow lots of onions, while allowing for plenty of vertical root growth.

AIR-POTS: An Air-pot is a specially designed growing system built around one simple concept: air pruning of roots. These pots are shaped in such a way that they will guide roots along a channel that is cut open to the air. Once root tips reach the opening, they dry out and become "air pruned". The growth tip does not spiral. Instead it terminates. This results in more, branching roots being sent out from the plant.

Regular pots will result in a big ball of entangled roots. The larger the plant gets, the bigger the issue. Poorly watered plants tend to send out extra root growth, further worsening the problem. But plants grown in air-pots have a dense, fibrous network of feeder roots. At the outer edges, there is no entanglement. Instead, the roots are pointing outward, ready to resume growth once planted into the ground. Air-pots are TRUE air pruning systems in that the even air prune the bottom roots. Many systems cannot achieve this effect.

In particular, air-pots are great for growing healthy perennials like herbs and even trees. Perennials are permanent fixtures in your garden that you want to keep for many years. But planting a root bound tree in the ground gives it a horrible start in life. It stunts plants and ultimately leads to increased death rates.

Air-pots are a more costly growth system, especially when compared to other seed starting solutions. But they offer a small pot that is about a quart in capacity, and not as expensive. So you could use this for your larger seedlings that will be allowed to mature quite a bit before planting outdoors.

SOIL BLOCKERS: Soil blockers are a pretty unique idea. They compress a special soil mix that forms small blocks or cubes of soil for your seedlings to take root. Each blocker has several squares allowing you to press out multiple blocks with each action. There is a tiny air space separating them, much like ice cubes in an ice cube tray. Ideally you would have a tray that you press them onto and then leave them in place.

The soil blocker system offers small, medium and large blocks. So you can start a large volume of seedlings. But you can also upgrade the blocks by fitting them into large blocks as plants get bigger. These cubes o' dirt need to be kept moist. I recommend placing them onto a capillary mat to supply water from underneath.

Soil blockers are a little more costly up front. But they are a truly sustainable system that will last for a long time. There is no waste. No containers to store. And as an added bonus, plant roots are air pruned on the sides, preventing the plant becoming root-bound.

I've never personally grown seedlings in these. I imagine it could be tricky to move these around in a small grow chamber. Rearranging plants might be a pain. I also can't imagine offering these plants to friends without first finding a way to protect the blocks from being squished or drying out. If you have a physical limitation, like arthritis, using these for a large volume of plants might be difficult. Otherwise, these seem rather ingenious and they just might fit your needs perfectly.

ALBO-STEIN SELF-WATERING SIP: This system is a little bonus that I wanted to throw in there. Each of these is constructed from a Clorox wipes container with a yogurt container nested into it. It's built on the same idea as using repurposed or upcycled containers for growing plants. But this system take things much further!

Each albo-stein holds 1 quart of potting mix. But it also has a self-contained water reservoir that can store 3 cups of water. This water slowly wicks up, through the use of a cord. As the seedling grows, water gets drawn up through capillary forces. It makes it super easy to water some very big seedlings.

These containers are fairly large and so you can't fit a lot of them into a small space. But these are a great way for a small scale urban gardener to grow some huge pepper or tomato seedlings, without having them dry out as they get big. I have a complete write up on these if you'd like to know more. Perhaps this design could be used with other containers that you encounter in your daily life.

&#; Seeds: Buying Heirlooms vs Hybrids Big Seedlings: Grown in an Albo-stein &#;

Damping Off & Soil Sterilization &#;

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit 128 cell tray.